


A Lesson Learned

by themiscklancevault



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Comfort, Comfort/Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Falling In Love, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-17
Updated: 2017-08-17
Packaged: 2018-12-16 16:17:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11832390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themiscklancevault/pseuds/themiscklancevault
Summary: Taking place directly after Shiro has gone missing from the Black Lion, Lance decides he's going to be the one to talk to Keith.Originally written before the release of Season 3.





	A Lesson Learned

“Is no one going to go talk to him?” Lance asked. He had broken the chilling silence. The realization that Shiro was gone put everyone in the room to a stunned quietness. But Lance had had enough. He had watched, moments ago, as Keith slowly drifted away from the group and walked away without a word or second glance. Naturally, Lance felt worried about him.  
Allura looked over at Lance, but no words came out of her mouth. She just let out a sigh and lowered her gaze. She thought about it for another second before finally speaking in a dead voice. “Everyone just…Go to your rooms. We’ll figure something out. I promise…”  
With that, everyone went their separate ways. As Lance got to his room, he looked off to the left. Keith’s room was right there. There was no other place Keith could have gone to hide away. With a sigh, Lance forced himself to go to Keith’s door. “Keith?” He called out. When no answer came, he decided to give the door a few knocks. “Keith?” He tried again, only this time he sounded more desperate to get an answer.  
Silence.  
Lance sighed, his eyes now glued to the floor. “Look,” He spoke. “If you want to talk this out, just let me know. I’m here for you.” His last sentence made his face feel hot. He did mean it though, didn’t he? He wanted to support his friends, and Keith seemed to be hurting the most, but that just felt a bit too forward for him.  
To Lance’s surprise, the door slid open and standing before him was Keith. Lance’s eyes gleamed. “Keith!” He exclaimed. He suddenly felt joy flood through him to see Keith’s face. Lance took a small step forward, “I—!”  
“Why do you want to talk to me?” Keith interrupted in a snarky tone. His eyebrows furrowed and he crossed his arms, glaring at Lance with tired, dull eyes.  
Lance’s smile disappeared in an instant. “I—I just wanted to know if you were okay…” He read the mood in the atmosphere. Keith’s attitude flooded the space between them with awkwardness.  
Keith jerked his head away from Lance and turned away to the side. “I’m fine. I just—!” His words trailed away, crumbling with a single sigh. Keith’s eyes had the wet gleam of despair. He couldn’t reveal his feelings. It left him vulnerable.  
Lance tried to read Keith’s face. His dark indigo eyes only gave away what was on the surface: sadness. There had to be more. “I think I know,” Lance spoke. “You miss Shiro…We all do…”  
But that was Lance’s mistake. Keith scoffed in irritation. “You don’t know Shiro like I do! Sometimes it feels like he’s the only family I have! While you, Pidge, and Hunk all have families back on Earth!”  
The sudden rise in Keith’s voice made Lance flinch. Lance growled in anger, “The rest of Pidge’s family is out in space missing somewhere! Pidge’s mom is all alone back on Earth! And what about me and Hunk? Huh!?” Lance fought back. “Our families don’t even know we’re alive!”  
Keith stepped forward to Lance with a threatening glare in his eyes. “Back off, Lance! Unlike you, I have no family! I’m all alone! Always have been! Shiro may be the closest thing I have to an older brother, but he’s—!” He shook his head. “J-Just leave me alone!” Keith stepped back into his room.  
Before the door could close, Lance rushed in after him, anger now driving his actions. “Keith! Come on! You’re not alone now! You have me and everyone else!”  
“It’s not the same!” Keith yelled. He turned around to face Lance yet again. “I just found out I have Galra blood! My dad left me! You don’t even understand! You can’t understand!”  
Lance’s blood boiled. This anger was brought on so fast. “Then help me understand! I bet you don’t understand how I feel either!”  
“So it’s about you now?” Keith growled.  
Lance crossed his arms now, trying to mock Keith. “You know, it’s not always about you, Keith. Everyone here has some secret pain or whatever. You found out you’re part Galra! Big deal! We’re still dealing with that plus Shiro’s disappearance, but it’s not just you who’s suffering!”  
Keith made tight fists in an attempt to contain his explosive anger. “Enough dodging it! Get to the point!”  
Lance looked into his eyes once more and felt deeply hurt that he had to reveal himself first. “I—I don’t even feel like I belong here! I’m not smart and tech savvy like Pidge and Hunk! I’m not leadership material like Shiro! And I’m not strong like you! I’m nothing! I’m never good enough! Why does it always have to be me who’s not good at anything!? Why are you better than m—” But he stopped himself when he realized tears were going down both cheeks. He sniffled and quickly tried to wipe them away.  
It got worse once Lance saw that Keith was giving him a sad stare. Lance tried to look away from Keith because he felt ashamed, but the longer he and Keith stared at each other, the more Lance didn’t have it in him to turn away.  
The anger between them seemed to have slowly cooled down and faded away. Keith let out a shaky breath. “Lance…I’m sorry…”  
“I can’t believe you started this argument,” Lance groaned. While he was no longer furious, he was still hurt. “Can’t you just understand that you’re not alone anymore? That’s all I’m asking…”  
Keith opened his mouth to reply, but he quickly shut it. He couldn’t speak anymore. He felt that if he talked, he would reveal too much like what Lance had just done. Being that vulnerable made Keith shy away. He just shrugged and finally turned away again, making them break eye contact.  
When the silence between them came back, Lance felt awkward. Why did he let things out of his mouth? Those deep, dark secrets he held inside his head? His heart was beating fast.  
But at the last second, Keith changed his mind for one last question. “Is that why you hate me?”  
“No!” Lance exclaimed. No hesitation. He stared at the back of Keith’s head. “I don’t actually hate you! I just really…No! I mean…!” How to explain how he felt? He couldn’t find the right words. “I-I’m just jealous! Or something…” He trailed off. Now things felt even more heavy in the room.  
Keith didn’t bother glancing back at him. “I can’t believe anyone could be jealous of me.”  
“No matter what I do, you always beat me,” Lance clarified. “You’re always a step ahead. You always got good grades at the Garrison…And only when you got kicked out did I rise in rank…You’re better than me at everything,” Lance sighed.  
“Not everything,” Keith softly replied. “You can talk to others better than I can…You were always making people laugh. You had people around you all the time…”  
It bothered Lance to not see the look on Keith’s face. Why wouldn’t Keith face him again? Lance grunted. “I only try so hard to be funny because I have nothing else…”  
The hurt in his voice sent a chill through Keith’s chest. Keith glanced over his shoulder at him. “Are you…okay?”  
“This is your fault,” Lance whined. “I just wanted to see if you’re okay…now you’re asking me?” With Keith not looking again, he stepped forward and roughly grabbed him, hugging him from behind.  
Immediately, Keith tried to elbow Lance to get away, but the more he struggled, the tighter Lance’s hold became. Keith just let out a hushed grumble and let Lance hug him. Keith was then taken by how warm Lance felt. His back was pressed against Lance. Lance’s arms were strong and firm. Keith found himself thinking how safe and comforted Lance’s hold made him feel. He finally let himself relax. With his eyes closed, Keith just breathed in slowly and deeply. Lance was keeping him safe…It almost felt as if he was being cherished.  
After a while, they both calmed down some more, and Lance eventually let him go. Despite Lance moving away, Keith still felt warm. When he turned around to face Lance, his eyes looked different. They were more clear, more open. Keith didn’t realize how much of his defenses had dropped.  
But Lance noticed right away. He cracked a grin. “It’ll be okay. Just learn to rely on others…You can rely on me if you’re feeling upset.” But when Keith didn’t reply, Lance just examined his face. His eyes lingered on the soft redness of his cheeks. Is he—? Lance’s laugh began as a slow chuckle which quickly grew into a loud hollering. “You’re blushing!”  
A soft gasp escaped from Keith. He was so embarassed that he stood still, very tense, with his mouth hung open in shock. “N-No I’m not!”  
But his protest fell onto closed ears. “You’re turning into a cherry!” Lance wheezed. He was laughing so hard that he was running out of breath easily.  
“Shut up!” Keith cried out desperately. But it was probably true. He could feel heat flooding his face, especially his cheeks. He felt warm and fuzzy all over and he couldn’t find a logical reason as to why this was even happening. “P-Please stop laughing…!”  
But Lance continued anyways. Loud words fell out of Lance as he kept laughing. “You’re blushing! Blushing! I can’t believe it!”  
Keith crossed his arms. “You…! You hugged me! I just—!” Wait. He stopped himself as he realized what this meant. He was blushing because of Lance! “Never mind!” He rushed forward and pushed Lance towards the door. “Just go away!”  
Lance stomped on the ground and tried to push back, preventing Keith from shoving him any more. “Hey!” Lance protested. “I’m being the best friend ever in this castle by staying by your side!”  
Still pushing, Keith didn’t give up yet. “I’m fine! I told you I’m fine! You did your job! You can go now!”  
Lance gave one last snort of laughter. “No way, man! I’m not leaving until you admit you’ve learned your lesson!” At this, only then did Keith stop. He got his hands off Lance and just stared at him in confusion. “Wait, what? What lesson?”  
“Will you rely on me from now on?” Lance asked simply with a smile. “Will you accept that everyone in the castle is your family now?”  
To these questions, Keith thought deeply before speaking. He had to think about it because he had never thought of it seriously before now. “I…” Keith started softly. “I will, but only if you know that you’re valuable to this team and to all of us. You’re our sharpshooter and strategist. I promise I won’t shove you away just because Shiro’s not here right now…And,” Keith paused a bit. “I’ve never had to rely on people this much before…Not until I met all of you guys…”  
“Keith, you can rely on us!” Lance smiled a bit more to encourage him. “There’s no need to suffer in silence. We’re here for you…and uh…Thanks, Keith. It means a lot that you appriciate me for who I am and what I can do…”  
With their eyes never leaving the other’s, they both felt the same feeling. Keith felt warm for more than just having been hugged. Lance felt warm because he was sure he was happy and now he had helped Keith. But perhaps this new warmth was something more?  
Keith could feel his heart beating heavily in his chest. It was so strong that he could feel it as a lump in his throat. “Lance, I…” He swallowed, but the thumping of his heart grew stronger and stronger. It almost drowned out all over ambient noise. “Lance, I really…” Finally he realized that this was what love felt like. The warmth was love. He liked Lance. He felt so safe and secure earlier…These thoughts made Keith’s chest hurt immensely. He looked away from Lance’s eyes. “I really…appriciate what you’ve done for me tonight…”  
Lance’s heart skipped a beat. He tried not to be too disappointed, so he let out a soft, half hearted chuckle to hide it. “No problem…” Without anything else to say, Lance backed out of the room, turned heel, and walked to his own room.


End file.
